Coop's Corner: Southwestern Wisconsin

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Southwestern Wisconsin - 2022/10

When our trip started, the colors were far short of bright but by the time we were headed home, the brightness began to shine. Our traditional Slimey Crud Run Weekend was spent at our traditional SCR camp location, Alana Springs just outside of Richland Center, Wisconsin. We however, did not attend SCR. Rather we visited Wheels of Time....more on that soon. Before I go any further, here's the map of my tracks....

Right, I don't see any Tracks either and that is because after rolling the bike off the trailer, I connected my Garmin XT into its cradle and saw this....

And that's all I saw the entire trip....Blackness...a useless guidance helper. That fact didn't ruin the trip but the hours I've spent running through FixIt's, charging, draining, Soft Reset, Hard Reset have been Very frustrating. The unit does not realize how close it came to Hammer Reset. This one is going back where it came from, a replacement is on the way.

I'll get over it. Or in the future, fall back to Greg's backup plan.

The rest of the gang arrived by end of day Friday.

Desperate, I wasn't willing to give up on the GPS.

Two big packing tractors, coming at the pile on opposite sides. We went back later to use the drone but my SD card didn't record any of the flights and that's a shame. Largest pile I've ever seen, we all wondered with its pyramid shape, how it gets covered.

We use to eat here, then it closed, now open again as Sam's Airport Dive Diner. It was great to be back.

Finally giving up, I put the thing in the tank bag so that I didn't have to keep looking at it.

While the 12 cup was dripping away there under the pavillion, I went back to Old Reliable, anxious to try my brand new JoGo (who has time for 12 cups to drip??). I've made the adjustment to coffee through a straw with aplomb!

Saturday morning Steve got us out of Richland Center and north on our way to Sunrise Bakery on Pa's Road. These flags were lovingly filmed from the drone but alas, the SD card was a new one that for some reason acted normal but was not.....no views from above.

Bloomingdale and Bloomingdale....the intersection.

Almost there, at the top of the hill, Sunrise Bakery on Pa's Road.

Eric is still (and forever more??) kicking himself for not doing one of the hot from the oven Maple doughnuts. Steve and I took our chances and split one....might be the best day of our lives. I didn't buy any, instead a row of cookies, a pan of cinnamon rolls and a blueberry pie. I will mention here that as of a week later, none of these items are yet completely consumed.

From the bakery, we hustled back to the Richland Center Fairgrounds for the Wheels Of Time show.

No, Steve wasn't queasy from the doughnuts, he was down there checking mechanicals.

A strong showing from the Charles City products.

Two Seater....Hydro Drive!!

Some collections just don't fit in a bedroom closet....

Sunday morning, we were off to the Lone Rock Airport, this visit for breakfast. On the way out, a couple that were sitting near us....and listening to our foolishness...asked where we were from, headed, interest in our bikes, etc. I believe that he was surprised that I knew his neighborhood as well as I did. He had an HD sweatshirt on, could have played Santa and very likely owned one of those Milwaukee machines...."Hey, come out here and listen to my blue one...."

I did and it sounded extremely nice. No, I'm quite sure that it did not need a tune-up. That little V-wing Chevy V8 symbol said "427". He backed around slowly, made the right turn and once moving maybe 15mph, rapidly increased velocity, to a good number beyond 55mph.

Had I known that my drone footage was not footage, I'd have gone closer and taken some photos.

After breakfast, I'd go off on my own and we'd all meet in Rockton for chicken with our Noon reservation.

My advice though I may be judged to not be a reliable source based on the following....when negotiating a U-Turn on a tight and steep roadway, make sure that you are in Complete and Full Command of both your clutch and throttle controls.

Here we carry on with our regular programming (at least I did my GPS no damage).

A record of when this hay was processed....

Holstein steers being finished....

The 427 again!!

We think we're good at following instructions.....

Imagine, we weren't the only ones with machines of Asian origination!

Blueberry Waffle of course!

Sunday evening, I convinced the "Men" to join me for a fine salad meal. We found the darkest and most secluded corner that we could, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Early Monday morning....

Later early Monday morning...

We once again split for the day after breakfast in town...with meat..., I went back to camp to pick up my camera gear and was out for another loop.

Finally a stop at Beanie's Weenies in Westby...not a lot of choices these days on Monday.

The West Coast of course...

I've ridden past many schools and can't remember even once seeing them in session.

Back at camp Monday evening, we settled up with Colleen and her power of persuasion convinced us to dine at Los Amigos 2. We were lucky enough to see her there and be introduced to her friend Norm.

Tuesday morning....

Our very own Red Wing Ironworks Motorbike Club left their calling's on the Alana Springs bulletin board.

518 non-GPS miles for me, great riding and once again a perfect balance of time with friends in one of our favorite areas of SW Wisconsin. I'll feel better just knowing that you're enjoying autumn, in whatever fashion suits you, that you're doing it and living life.

2 comments:

redlegsridesOctober 10, 2022 at 10:13 PM
Yep, tight u turns on a sloping surface can make one's life a little bit too interesting at times! Glad you're okay, didn't seem to damage the bike too much?
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)